Sequart Organization » Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org
advancing comics as artSat, 18 May 2019 02:09:23 +0000enhourly1Unashamed: In Which Concluding Remarks are Made and a Book is Announced, Shameless? The Superhero Tales of Mark Millarhttp://sequart.org/magazine/52920/shameless-the-superhero-tales-of-mark-millar-conclusion/
http://sequart.org/magazine/52920/shameless-the-superhero-tales-of-mark-millar-conclusion/#commentsTue, 09 Dec 2014 12:00:42 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=52920I hate to break a promise, even if it’s made to no-one but myself. Yet things have changed since I typed “to be continued” at the foot of the last section of Shameless? to be… [more]]]>6“New Paradigms for the Super Hero Team Structure?”: On Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 (The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 45)http://sequart.org/magazine/52391/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-mark-millar-part-45/
http://sequart.org/magazine/52391/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-mark-millar-part-45/#commentsTue, 25 Nov 2014 12:00:03 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=52391Continued from last week. No-one could accuse Morrison of being blind to Skrull Kill Krew’s satirical potential. In 1995, he spoke enthusiastically of the book’s capacity to discuss the likes of “catastrophy in the 20th… [more]]]>0“Until It Destroys Your Brain”: On Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 (The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 44)http://sequart.org/magazine/51873/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-mark-millar-part-44/
http://sequart.org/magazine/51873/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-mark-millar-part-44/#commentsTue, 18 Nov 2014 12:00:52 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=51873Continued from last week. Not everything in Morrison and Millar’s rebuffed pitches to Marvel went to waste. The former’s dogged belief in the quality of the Apocalypse 2099 proposal would have only been strengthened by… [more]]]>0“It Would Have Made a Great Comic”: On Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 (The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 43)http://sequart.org/magazine/51752/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-1-5-mark-millar-part-43/
http://sequart.org/magazine/51752/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-1-5-mark-millar-part-43/#commentsTue, 11 Nov 2014 12:00:05 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=51752Continued from last week. Yet whatever its strengths, Morrison and Millar’s 2099 proposal went to waste, with a far less sweeping and less nostalgic series of changes being introduced instead. As part of the ongoing… [more]]]>0On Doctor Who: New Adventures with the Eleventh Doctor & the Often-Ignored Virtues of the Licensed Comichttp://sequart.org/magazine/51837/doctor-who-new-adventures-licensed-comics/
http://sequart.org/magazine/51837/doctor-who-new-adventures-licensed-comics/#commentsWed, 05 Nov 2014 12:00:49 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=51837Concerning the first 8 pages of Al Ewing, Rob Williams, Simon Fraser & Gary Caldwell’s Doctor Who #1 (2014) The quality of licensed comics has never been higher, and yet some still regard them with… [more]]]>0“A Fading 2099 Universe”: On Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 (The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 42)http://sequart.org/magazine/51655/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-1-5-mark-millar-part-42/
http://sequart.org/magazine/51655/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-1-5-mark-millar-part-42/#commentsTue, 04 Nov 2014 12:00:31 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=51655Continued from last week. The problem with Skrull Kill Krew obviously wasn’t a lack of ambition on Morrison and Millar’s part. The same was true for several of their other substantial pitches to Marvel during… [more]]]>0“To Shoot Every Last Skrull On Earth”: On Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 (The American Superhero Comics Of Mark Millar, Part 41)http://sequart.org/magazine/51581/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-1-5-mark-millar-part-41/
http://sequart.org/magazine/51581/shameless-skrull-kill-krew-1-5-mark-millar-part-41/#commentsTue, 28 Oct 2014 11:00:34 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=51581Continued from last week. Despite the precipitous collapse and subsequent flatlining of Swamp Thing’s sales in the second half of 1994, Millar’s career at the half-point of the decade still appeared to be in rude… [more]]]>1“About Sixty Per Cent Happy”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 40http://sequart.org/magazine/51304/about-sixty-per-cent-happy-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-38/
http://sequart.org/magazine/51304/about-sixty-per-cent-happy-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-38/#commentsTue, 21 Oct 2014 11:00:22 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=51304Continued from last week. The rest of Millar’s Swamp Thing tales shared the same weaknesses as River Run, although they only intermittently reflected the same strengths. The likes of Twilight of The Gods and Chester… [more]]]>1“So Many Questions are Left Unanswered”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 39http://sequart.org/magazine/51047/swamp-thing-140-171-mark-millar-part-39/
http://sequart.org/magazine/51047/swamp-thing-140-171-mark-millar-part-39/#commentsTue, 14 Oct 2014 11:00:36 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=51047Continued from last week. For the third time in ten months, Millar’s Swamp Thing had presented abortion in a wholly negative light. Nothing that he’d write in the remainder of his tenure on the book… [more]]]>0“Why d’You Think God Created Abortion Clinics?”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 38http://sequart.org/magazine/50386/shameless-american-superhero-part-38/
http://sequart.org/magazine/50386/shameless-american-superhero-part-38/#commentsTue, 07 Oct 2014 11:00:02 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=50386Continued from last week. After abortion as a vehicle for laddish jokes and abortion as a means for evoking terror, Millar turned to abortion as a symbol of crass irresponsibility. (ST: 147/152/157) In Sink Or… [more]]]>0“Terminate This Pregnancy”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 37http://sequart.org/magazine/50339/shameless-american-superhero-part-37/
http://sequart.org/magazine/50339/shameless-american-superhero-part-37/#commentsTue, 30 Sep 2014 11:00:15 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=50339Continued from last week. Millar makes more use of the topic of abortion in Swamp Thing than most superhero writers do in a lifetime. In each case, abortion is used either as a symbol of… [more]]]>0“Her Deepest, Hidden Secrets”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 36http://sequart.org/magazine/50188/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-36/
http://sequart.org/magazine/50188/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-36/#commentsTue, 23 Sep 2014 11:00:38 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=50188Continued from last week. As so often before, Murder In The Dark saw Millar indulging in two of his greatest fascinations: body horror at the expense of helpless female victims and the tradition and dogma… [more]]]>0“Do You Remember Earth Two or Earth X?”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 35http://sequart.org/magazine/50006/do-you-remember-earth-two-or-earth-x-swamp-thing-american-superhero-comics-mark-millar-part-35/
http://sequart.org/magazine/50006/do-you-remember-earth-two-or-earth-x-swamp-thing-american-superhero-comics-mark-millar-part-35/#commentsTue, 16 Sep 2014 11:00:44 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=50006Continued from last week. Though Millar’s River Run tales are rarely anything other than predictable, they’re also undeniably focused, purposeful and enthusiastically told. Even when he’s sketching out the inevitably baleful career of a psychopathic… [more]]]>0“There is Something Wrong with This World”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 34http://sequart.org/magazine/49815/there-is-something-wrong-with-this-world-on-swamp-thing-140-171-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-34/
http://sequart.org/magazine/49815/there-is-something-wrong-with-this-world-on-swamp-thing-140-171-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-34/#commentsTue, 09 Sep 2014 11:00:51 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=49815Continued from last week. Even when Millar put an appropriately exotic backdrop to use, he frequently neutered its dramatic potential. The desert setting used to conclude the first arc was portrayed in an entirely throwaway… [more]]]>0“Not Walking in Alan Moore’s Footsteps”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 33http://sequart.org/magazine/49286/not-walking-in-alan-moore-footsteps-swamp-thing-american-superhero-comics-mark-millar/
http://sequart.org/magazine/49286/not-walking-in-alan-moore-footsteps-swamp-thing-american-superhero-comics-mark-millar/#commentsTue, 02 Sep 2014 11:00:02 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=49286Continued from last week. Of course, there’s no reason why an obvious ending can’t also be a satisfying one. Similarly, a protagonist that seems to lack personality or potency can still be used in a… [more]]]>0“Even The Worst Among Them Has Potential”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 32http://sequart.org/magazine/49271/even-the-worst-among-them-has-potential-on-swamp-thing-140-171-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-32/
http://sequart.org/magazine/49271/even-the-worst-among-them-has-potential-on-swamp-thing-140-171-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-32/#commentsTue, 26 Aug 2014 14:00:13 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=49271Continued from last week. So, the Millar who wrote Swamp Thing was enthusiastic, ambitious, and ethically engaged. But for all his efforts and good intentions, and for all the occasional highpoint, the run was heavy-handed,… [more]]]>0“Ritual Must Be Observed”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 31http://sequart.org/magazine/49107/ritual-must-be-observed-on-swamp-thing-140-171-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-31/
http://sequart.org/magazine/49107/ritual-must-be-observed-on-swamp-thing-140-171-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-31/#commentsTue, 19 Aug 2014 11:00:19 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=49107Continued from last week. As for his two warring Lodges of super-mages, Millar seems to have used them as a symbol of religious sectarianism and reconciliation. Their differing interpretations of how to save the world… [more]]]>0“Why Try to Create a New God?”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 30http://sequart.org/magazine/48718/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-30/
http://sequart.org/magazine/48718/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-30/#commentsTue, 05 Aug 2014 11:00:40 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=48718Continued from last week. But for all the carelessness and clumsiness of Millar’s scripts, his and Morrison’s Swamp Thing consistently displays a deliberate and serious moral purpose. Indeed, the comic persistently plays out two quite… [more]]]>0“Take a Look Inside My Mind”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 29http://sequart.org/magazine/48476/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-29/
http://sequart.org/magazine/48476/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-29/#commentsTue, 29 Jul 2014 09:00:17 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=48476Continued from last week. It’s impossible to believe that Morrison and Millar’s Swamp Thing wasn’t intended as an allegory. For all that Morrison’s original plans appear to have been significantly modified by his junior partner,… [more]]]>0“Old Souls, Dark Agendas”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 28http://sequart.org/magazine/48322/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-28/
http://sequart.org/magazine/48322/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-28/#commentsTue, 22 Jul 2014 11:00:46 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=48322Continued from last week. The final pages of Millar’s Swamp Thing depict the Earth on the eve of a historically unprecedented golden age. (*1) Humanity has been empathetically transformed through the god-like Swamp Thing’s influence,… [more]]]>0“The Spirit of Hatred or the Spirit of Love”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 27http://sequart.org/magazine/47907/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-27/
http://sequart.org/magazine/47907/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-27/#commentsTue, 15 Jul 2014 15:00:03 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=47907Continued from last week. Other aspects of Millar’s closing tilt at Swamp Thing were less praiseworthy. Though the final arc appears to show little of the swaggering misogyny that saturated his earliest work for 2000AD,… [more]]]>0“The Notion that Mankind is Diseased and Must be Replaced at all Costs”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 26http://sequart.org/magazine/47511/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-26/
http://sequart.org/magazine/47511/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-26/#commentsTue, 08 Jul 2014 11:00:05 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=47511Continued from last week. The conflict between Millar’s two opposing teams of Masons appears to represent a clash of empathy and hubris, tolerance and tyranny, good faith and a world-razing secularism. Where one Lodge is… [more]]]>0“The War Between the Super-Freemasons”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 25http://sequart.org/magazine/47163/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-25/
http://sequart.org/magazine/47163/american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-25/#commentsTue, 01 Jul 2014 11:00:36 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=47163Continued from last week. Millar’s command of his craft wouldn’t significantly improve over the remainder of his time on Swamp Thing, though progress would undeniably occur. He’d dial back on the degree of redundant dialogue… [more]]]>0“A Martyr for All Mankind”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 24http://sequart.org/magazine/46797/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-24/
http://sequart.org/magazine/46797/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-24/#commentsTue, 24 Jun 2014 14:00:01 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=46797Continued from last week. At first, Morrison and Millar’s scripts were religious only in the very broadest sense of the term. With the former’s influence clearly dominant, Swamp Thing’s series-opening crisis of identity is clearly framed… [more]]]>0“[The] Most Morally Objectionable Comic DC Has Ever Published”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 23http://sequart.org/magazine/46223/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-23/
http://sequart.org/magazine/46223/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-23/#commentsTue, 17 Jun 2014 11:00:37 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=46223Continued from last week. As ever, it’s impossible to precisely disentangle Morrison’s influence from Millar’s. Yet Swamp Thing’s storylines and themes certainly bear the stamp of many of the former’s recurrent passions; magic and folklore,… [more]]]>0Killing the Planet: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 22http://sequart.org/magazine/45676/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-22/
http://sequart.org/magazine/45676/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-22/#commentsTue, 10 Jun 2014 11:00:05 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=45676Continued from last week. Those first four issues of Swamp Thing by Morrison and Millar set the template for the rest of the series. The pretence of an everything-you-know-is-wrong reboot was swiftly abandoned, and “Alec… [more]]]>0“Make Him a Monster Again, Make Him Dangerous”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 21http://sequart.org/magazine/45095/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-21/
http://sequart.org/magazine/45095/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-21/#commentsTue, 03 Jun 2014 11:00:18 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=45095Continued from last week. Morrison later made a point of emphasising how central his contributions to Millar’s Swamp Thing had been; “I worked out a large scale thematic structure based on a journey through the… [more]]]>1Sneaking Barry Allen Back: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 20http://sequart.org/magazine/43739/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-20/
http://sequart.org/magazine/43739/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-20/#commentsTue, 27 May 2014 11:00:17 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=43739Continued from last week. Millar’s habit of writing Swamp Thing tales, which demanded the presence of off-limits DCU characters, never entirely faded. Even at the climax of his run, and despite almost three years of… [more]]]>0“Try Telling That to a 23-Year-Old Who Just Wanted to Play with the Toys”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 19http://sequart.org/magazine/43562/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-19/
http://sequart.org/magazine/43562/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-19/#commentsTue, 20 May 2014 14:00:28 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=43562Continued from last week. That “bloody big shadow” of Alan Moore’s extended far beyond the pages of Swamp Thing. Trying to compete with his achievements on the title was a daunting enough prospect. But Moore’s… [more]]]>0“Swamp Thing was Just a Vegetable who Lived in a Bog, after All”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 18http://sequart.org/magazine/42898/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-18/
http://sequart.org/magazine/42898/the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-18/#commentsTue, 13 May 2014 11:00:41 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=42898Continued from last week. For almost a decade, Wein and Wrightson’s estimable if brief spell on Swamp Thing would prove impossible to follow. At best, the character would feature in some mildly suspenseful tales marked… [more]]]>0Starting Out Again at the Top: Swamp Thing (1994 to 1996) — The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 17http://sequart.org/magazine/42558/swamp-thing-1994-to-1996-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-17/
http://sequart.org/magazine/42558/swamp-thing-1994-to-1996-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-17/#commentsTue, 06 May 2014 11:00:53 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=42558Continued from last week. It’s no overstatement to say that Mark Millar’s first major breakthrough at DC Comics owed everything to Grant Morrison. Offered the chance in 1993 to write Swamp Thing, Morrison assumed the… [more]]]>0(Almost) the World’s Finest Team: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 16http://sequart.org/magazine/42105/almost-the-worlds-finest-team-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-16/
http://sequart.org/magazine/42105/almost-the-worlds-finest-team-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-16/#commentsTue, 29 Apr 2014 17:00:19 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=42105Continued from last week. Millar was hardly the first comics scripter to bridle at the constraints of continuity. But few can equal his predilection for heedlessly flouting the more obvious aspects of a property’s backstory. The… [more]]]>0“Nice to Meet You, Big Guy”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 15http://sequart.org/magazine/41903/nice-to-meet-you-big-guy-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-15/
http://sequart.org/magazine/41903/nice-to-meet-you-big-guy-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-15/#commentsTue, 22 Apr 2014 11:00:12 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=41903Continued from last week. November 1998′s Superman Adventures #25 gave Millar one last substantial shot at depicting The Batman. Putting the overwrought misjudgements of the JLA Paradise Lost mini-series behind him, he returned to the conception… [more]]]>0“Forgive me, Superman. I’m not very good at losing.”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 14http://sequart.org/magazine/41594/forgive-me-superman-not-very-good-at-losing-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-14/
http://sequart.org/magazine/41594/forgive-me-superman-not-very-good-at-losing-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-14/#commentsTue, 15 Apr 2014 11:00:46 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=41594Continued from last week. Some in the UK fan community saw Millar as Morrison’s heir apparent on the JLA. But despite later claiming that he’d once turned down the chance to write the Justice League, Millar… [more]]]>0“An Arrogant, Aristocratic Batman?”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 13http://sequart.org/magazine/41386/an-arrogant-aristocratic-batman-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-13/
http://sequart.org/magazine/41386/an-arrogant-aristocratic-batman-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-13/#commentsTue, 08 Apr 2014 11:00:24 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=41386Continued from last week. But how were Morrison and Millar to explain away the Batman’s aloof and frequently contemptuous attitude towards even his fellow super-heroes? If the Dark Knight was to be cut away from the… [more]]]>0“This is Not a Dream, but a Plan”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 12http://sequart.org/magazine/41219/this-is-not-a-dream-but-a-plan-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-12/
http://sequart.org/magazine/41219/this-is-not-a-dream-but-a-plan-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-12/#commentsTue, 01 Apr 2014 11:00:25 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=41219Continued from last week. There are other indications that Millar might have been a major contributor to the new JLA’s origin tale. In the Justice League’s own title, Morrison had scrupulously ensured that his innovations were… [more]]]>0The Secret Origin of the JLA, and of “Mark Millar” Too: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 11http://sequart.org/magazine/40819/the-secret-origin-of-the-jla-and-of-mark-millar-too-american-superhero-comics-mark-millar/
http://sequart.org/magazine/40819/the-secret-origin-of-the-jla-and-of-mark-millar-too-american-superhero-comics-mark-millar/#commentsTue, 25 Mar 2014 11:00:20 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=40819Continued from last week. It would be another seven months until Morrison and Millar’s next public collaboration on the Batman. In that time, the new JLA title would establish itself as a remarkably successful reboot. Its… [more]]]>0The Batman As Father Figure: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar Part 10http://sequart.org/magazine/40810/the-batman-as-father-figure-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-10/
http://sequart.org/magazine/40810/the-batman-as-father-figure-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-10/#commentsTue, 18 Mar 2014 11:00:52 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=40810Continued from here. DC’s post-crisis, Dark Age portrayal of the Batman had long been a source of aggravation for both Morrison and Millar. Years before Morrison landed the job of scripting the JLA, the two men… [more]]]>1“A Semi-Unhinged, Essentially Humourless Loner Struggling with Rage and Guilt”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 9http://sequart.org/magazine/40139/a-semi-unhinged-essentially-humourless-loner-struggling-with-rage-and-guilt-superhero-comics-mark-millar/
http://sequart.org/magazine/40139/a-semi-unhinged-essentially-humourless-loner-struggling-with-rage-and-guilt-superhero-comics-mark-millar/#commentsTue, 11 Mar 2014 11:00:09 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=40139Continued from last week. Grant Morrison’s ambition was, it appears, to free the DCU from the constraints of both wonder-killing editorial dictats and the conventions of the Dark Age. Yet unregulated creative anarchy doesn’t seem to… [more]]]>0A Thousand Batmen Blooming: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 8http://sequart.org/magazine/40131/a-thousand-batmen-blooming-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-8/
http://sequart.org/magazine/40131/a-thousand-batmen-blooming-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-8/#commentsTue, 25 Feb 2014 12:00:01 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=40131Continued from last week. The superhero genre had become more and more susceptible to the myth of the definitive version. It was a fan-consuming fallacy which presumed that each character possessed an irreducible core of utterly… [more]]]>0Pulling Out of the Dark Age?: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 7http://sequart.org/magazine/39888/pulling-out-of-the-dark-age-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-7/
http://sequart.org/magazine/39888/pulling-out-of-the-dark-age-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-7/#commentsTue, 18 Feb 2014 12:00:49 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=39888Continued from last week. It’s only to be expected that Millar’s work on the JLA would mesh with Grant Morrison’s agenda. But it is remarkable how closely and effectively Millar’s contributions reflected his friend’s wider ambitions… [more]]]>0“How Can You Possibly Live in a World Without Superheroes?”: The American Superhero Comics Of Mark Millar, Part 6http://sequart.org/magazine/39765/%e2%80%9chow-can-you-possibly-live-in-a-world-without-superheroes%e2%80%9d-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-6/
http://sequart.org/magazine/39765/%e2%80%9chow-can-you-possibly-live-in-a-world-without-superheroes%e2%80%9d-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-6/#commentsTue, 11 Feb 2014 12:00:29 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=39765Continued from last week. Who was responsible for what in Morrison and Millar’s many collaborations? Credit boxes are often little help at all. Stories which carried the Morrison/Millar by-line were on occasion the product of an… [more]]]>0“Nice to Meet You, Big Guy!”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 5http://sequart.org/magazine/39687/nice-to-meet-you-big-guy-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-5/
http://sequart.org/magazine/39687/nice-to-meet-you-big-guy-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-5/#commentsTue, 04 Feb 2014 12:00:24 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=39687Continued from last week. Though he’d never again see one of his scripts feature in any of the Batman’s many headlining titles, Millar would return to the character over and over again throughout the Nineties. It’s… [more]]]>0“Just Don’t Do It Again”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 4http://sequart.org/magazine/39321/just-dont-do-it-again-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-4/
http://sequart.org/magazine/39321/just-dont-do-it-again-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-4/#commentsTue, 28 Jan 2014 12:00:07 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=39321Continued from last week. How was it possible for Millar to show so much respect for Bruce Wayne’s back story while portraying such a deeply unconvincing Dark Knight? Though the writer’s take on Wayne was ludicrously… [more]]]>0“There are Some Things in Life It’s Best not to See”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 3http://sequart.org/magazine/38612/there-are-some-things-in-life-its-best-not-to-see-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-3/
http://sequart.org/magazine/38612/there-are-some-things-in-life-its-best-not-to-see-the-american-superhero-comics-of-mark-millar-part-3/#commentsTue, 21 Jan 2014 12:00:49 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=38612Continued from last week. The suspicion that Millar idled his way through his years at 2000AD is at least in part countered by the contents of Favourite Things. For it seems unlikely that he would have… [more]]]>0“Yes, Alfred. Time for Bed.”: The American Comics of Mark Millar, Part 2http://sequart.org/magazine/38605/yes-alfred-time-for-bed-the-american-comics-of-mark-millar-part-2/
http://sequart.org/magazine/38605/yes-alfred-time-for-bed-the-american-comics-of-mark-millar-part-2/#commentsTue, 14 Jan 2014 12:00:33 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=38605Continued from last week. Favourite Things was the first mainstream superhero tale that Millar had ever sold. Previously, he’d depicted the costumed crimefighter as a horror-hybridised symbol of corruption and cruelty, as with The Saviour and… [more]]]>0Enter Mr. … Miller?: The American Comics of Mark Millar, Part 1http://sequart.org/magazine/38380/enter-mr-miller-the-american-comics-of-mark-millar-part-1/
http://sequart.org/magazine/38380/enter-mr-miller-the-american-comics-of-mark-millar-part-1/#commentsTue, 07 Jan 2014 12:00:06 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=38380Continued from here. Exactly when Grant Morrison landed Mark Millar the job of scripting Swamp Thing is hard to pinpoint. Millar has hinted that the GLASCAC comic convention in the late April of 1993 may have… [more]]]>1The Best of Millar: The 10 Most Enjoyable Examples of Mark Millar’s Work for UK Publishers, 1989-1997http://sequart.org/magazine/37332/the-best-of-millar-the-10-most-enjoyable-examples-of-mark-millar-work-for-uk-publishers-1989-1997/
http://sequart.org/magazine/37332/the-best-of-millar-the-10-most-enjoyable-examples-of-mark-millar-work-for-uk-publishers-1989-1997/#commentsTue, 17 Dec 2013 12:00:28 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=37332As in last week’s “worst-of”, the following selections are presented in no order of preference; 1. Tales From Beyond Science: Long Distance Calls, with artist Rian Hughes, from 1992’s 2000AD #776. Just as I could… [more]]]>0The Worst of Millar: The 10 Least Commendable Examples of Mark Millar’s Work for UK Publishers, 1989-1997http://sequart.org/magazine/37318/the-worst-of-millar-the-10-least-commendable-examples-of-mark-millar-work-for-uk-publishers-1989-1997/
http://sequart.org/magazine/37318/the-worst-of-millar-the-10-least-commendable-examples-of-mark-millar-work-for-uk-publishers-1989-1997/#commentsTue, 10 Dec 2013 12:00:32 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=37318Shameless? will be moving on in the new year to discuss Mark Millar’s post-1993 career with a host of American publishers. But before setting out in the direction of Swamp Thing, Skrull Kill Krew and… [more]]]>0“Our ‘War-is-Fun’ Attitude”: Shameless? Part 37http://sequart.org/magazine/36884/our-war-is-fun-attitude-mark-millar-shameless-part-37/
http://sequart.org/magazine/36884/our-war-is-fun-attitude-mark-millar-shameless-part-37/#commentsTue, 03 Dec 2013 12:00:54 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=36884Continued from last week. Hindsight suggests that Canon Fodder marked the beginning of the end of Millar’s relationship with 2000AD. It was by no means the last of his scripts to appear in the comic,… [more]]]>0On Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys: Friendshttp://sequart.org/magazine/30077/on-urasawas-20th-century-boys-friends/
http://sequart.org/magazine/30077/on-urasawas-20th-century-boys-friends/#commentsTue, 26 Nov 2013 12:00:48 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=30077When I first read Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys: Friends, I stopped after the initial six pages and put the book away. For they were so perfect in themselves, so wonderfully concise and clever and moving,… [more]]]>0“Where’s Canon Fodder?”: Shameless? Part 36http://sequart.org/magazine/34056/wheres-canon-fodder-mark-millar-shameless-part-36/
http://sequart.org/magazine/34056/wheres-canon-fodder-mark-millar-shameless-part-36/#commentsTue, 19 Nov 2013 12:00:31 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=34056Continued from last week. Though pinpointing exactly when Millar stopped working for 2000AD is an difficult business, he’d most definitely moved onto the American market by the time Canon Fodder returned without him in 1996. With the… [more]]]>0“I Only Wanted To Be Loved”: Shameless? Part 35http://sequart.org/magazine/32621/i-only-wanted-to-be-loved-mark-millar-shameless-part-35/
http://sequart.org/magazine/32621/i-only-wanted-to-be-loved-mark-millar-shameless-part-35/#commentsTue, 12 Nov 2013 12:00:26 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=32621Continued from two weeks ago. Canon Fodder reads as if two distinct stories had been awkwardly spliced together. In its first half, it’s the tale of how the Canon, Doctor Watson and Mycroft Holmes desperately combine… [more]]]>0“Keep Calm. I’ll Wrap This Up Quickly.”: Shameless? Part 34http://sequart.org/magazine/31498/keep-calm-wrap-this-up-quickly-mark-millar-shameless-part-34/
http://sequart.org/magazine/31498/keep-calm-wrap-this-up-quickly-mark-millar-shameless-part-34/#commentsTue, 29 Oct 2013 11:00:56 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=31498Continued from last week. The world-building that Millar had begun to invest in Canon Fodder was unusually rich, distinctly quirky, and full of promise. Yet that surprising combination of Catholicism, Holmesian characters, alt-world SF and superheroes… [more]]]>0“Bones Gnawed to the Marrow”: Shameless? Part 33http://sequart.org/magazine/30721/bones-gnawed-to-the-marrow-mark-millar-shameless-part-33/
http://sequart.org/magazine/30721/bones-gnawed-to-the-marrow-mark-millar-shameless-part-33/#commentsTue, 22 Oct 2013 11:00:19 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=30721Continued from last week. “I had no idea what I was doing for the most part and just learning how to do very basic stuff then. Only good stuff I’d recommend would be Big Dave (which… [more]]]>0“Two Tickets for My Next Performance”: Shameless? Part 32http://sequart.org/magazine/30320/two-tickets-for-my-next-performance-mark-millar-shameless-part-32/
http://sequart.org/magazine/30320/two-tickets-for-my-next-performance-mark-millar-shameless-part-32/#commentsTue, 15 Oct 2013 11:00:47 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=30320Continued from last week. So how did Morrison and Millar use the pages of Big Dave to express their contempt for homophobia? Starting from the premise that their readers were similarly liberal-minded, they studded the strip’s… [more]]]>0“We Were Just Trying to Bring Peace to the Planet”: Shameless? Part 31http://sequart.org/magazine/30102/we-were-just-trying-to-bring-peace-to-the-planet-shameless-part-31/
http://sequart.org/magazine/30102/we-were-just-trying-to-bring-peace-to-the-planet-shameless-part-31/#commentsTue, 08 Oct 2013 11:00:44 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=30102Continued from last week. The urge to stereotype Millar’s beliefs in the light of his least liberal scripts is an understandable one. Yet his work is anything but consistent on matters of social justice. As I’ve… [more]]]>0“Bog Off Back to Mars”: Shameless? Part 30http://sequart.org/magazine/29981/bog-off-back-to-mars-shameless-part-30/
http://sequart.org/magazine/29981/bog-off-back-to-mars-shameless-part-30/#commentsTue, 01 Oct 2013 11:00:44 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=29981Continued from last week. It’s not that Big Dave is without its pleasures, although the vast majority of them are to be found in Steve Parkhouse’s boisterously dynamic artwork. Though even he couldn’t compensate for the… [more]]]>0“A Few Sandwiches Short of a Picnic”: Shameless? Part 29http://sequart.org/magazine/29967/a-few-sandwiches-short-of-a-picnic-shameless-part-29/
http://sequart.org/magazine/29967/a-few-sandwiches-short-of-a-picnic-shameless-part-29/#commentsTue, 24 Sep 2013 11:00:22 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=29967Continued from last week. Given the evidence, it would be hard to argue that much of Millar’s work for 2000AD wasn’t worryingly homophobic. The best that might be said of a number of his scripts is… [more]]]>0“He’s Camp as Christmas, but He’s Good as Gold”: Shameless? Part 28http://sequart.org/magazine/29692/camp-as-christmas-but-good-as-gold-mark-millar-shameless-part-28/
http://sequart.org/magazine/29692/camp-as-christmas-but-good-as-gold-mark-millar-shameless-part-28/#commentsTue, 17 Sep 2013 11:00:06 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=29692Continued from last week. The debate about the attitudes expressed in Millar’s work towards LGBT issues is hardly a new one. Even as early as 1993, Monaghan’s pseudo-interview with Millar and Morrison in Comic World #18… [more]]]>0A Safe Pair of Hands?: Shameless? Part 27http://sequart.org/magazine/29691/a-safe-pair-of-hands-%e2%80%93-shameless-part-27/
http://sequart.org/magazine/29691/a-safe-pair-of-hands-%e2%80%93-shameless-part-27/#commentsTue, 10 Sep 2013 11:00:03 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=29691Continued from last week. Millar’s longest running assignment at 2000AD had been Robo-Hunter, for which he wrote several hundred pages between 1991 and 1993. (*1) Created by writer John Wagner and artists Jose Ferrer and Ian… [more]]]>0“What’s the Point Chief?”: Shameless? Part 26http://sequart.org/magazine/29636/whats-the-point-chief-shameless-mark-millar-part-26/
http://sequart.org/magazine/29636/whats-the-point-chief-shameless-mark-millar-part-26/#commentsTue, 03 Sep 2013 11:00:09 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=29636Continued from last week. Laughter can be used to reveal prejudice before the mind has the chance to stifle it. But the Millar of the period gave no sign that he disapproved of his own heartless… [more]]]>0“Never Trust A Woman… Women Will Eat You Alive”: Shameless? Part 25http://sequart.org/magazine/29354/never-trust-a-woman-women-will-eat-you-alive-shameless-part-25/
http://sequart.org/magazine/29354/never-trust-a-woman-women-will-eat-you-alive-shameless-part-25/#commentsTue, 27 Aug 2013 11:00:27 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=29354Continued from last week. But Millar’s work for Fleetway often went far beyond casual, unthinking sexism. As the months passed and the examples of this piled up, he gave every impression of being a died-in-the-wool misogynist.… [more]]]>0“Comic Books Most Dripping-Wet Liberal”: Shameless? Part 24http://sequart.org/magazine/29190/comic-books-most-dripping-wet-liberal-shameless-part-24/
http://sequart.org/magazine/29190/comic-books-most-dripping-wet-liberal-shameless-part-24/#commentsTue, 20 Aug 2013 11:00:05 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=29190Continued from last week. The image of Millar as a tykish, daring and promising newcomer was wearing through by the end of 1992. What had at first seemed like boyish ambition, conspicuous potential and a novice’s… [more]]]>0“The Best Thing Since Dark Knight, Possibly Better”: Shameless? Part 23http://sequart.org/magazine/29122/the-best-thing-since-dark-knight-possibly-better-shameless-part-23/
http://sequart.org/magazine/29122/the-best-thing-since-dark-knight-possibly-better-shameless-part-23/#commentsTue, 13 Aug 2013 11:00:55 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=29122Continued from last week. Despite years of cold shoulders and rejection letters, Millar’s determination to write for the major players in the American comics industry never seems to have wavered. In particular, he continued to long… [more]]]>0“But The Bad People Haven’t Gone Away”: Shameless? Part 22http://sequart.org/magazine/28432/but-the-bad-people-havent-gone-away-shameless-part-22/
http://sequart.org/magazine/28432/but-the-bad-people-havent-gone-away-shameless-part-22/#commentsTue, 06 Aug 2013 11:00:53 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=28432Continued from last week. The Spider wasn’t the only long-unseen British superhero to be radically reworked by Millar in Vicious Games. He also briefly laid claim to Tri-Man, who’d been a far more conventional example of the… [more]]]>0“Lots of People Dressed Like That in the Sixties”: Shameless? Part 21http://sequart.org/magazine/28425/lots-of-people-dressed-like-that-in-the-sixties-shameless-part-21/
http://sequart.org/magazine/28425/lots-of-people-dressed-like-that-in-the-sixties-shameless-part-21/#commentsTue, 30 Jul 2013 11:00:32 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=28425Continued from last week. Fifteen months would pass until March 1992′s 2000 AD Action Special and the next of Millar’s superhero stories to see print. A stillborn revamping of the Sixties British superhero The Spider, it… [more]]]>0“That Slightly Dodgy, Anarchic Material”: Shameless? Part 20http://sequart.org/magazine/27774/that-slightly-dodgy-anarchic-material-shameless-part-20/
http://sequart.org/magazine/27774/that-slightly-dodgy-anarchic-material-shameless-part-20/#commentsTue, 23 Jul 2013 11:00:48 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=27774Continued from last week. The obviousness of Millar’s influences would become more and more of a problem as his work for Fleetway continued. Of course, 2000AD had been founded upon a deliberate policy of appropriating and… [more]]]>0“A Worm Shouts a Magic Word”: “Shameless? Part 19http://sequart.org/magazine/27367/a-worm-shouts-a-magic-word-shameless-part-19/
http://sequart.org/magazine/27367/a-worm-shouts-a-magic-word-shameless-part-19/#commentsTue, 16 Jul 2013 11:00:17 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=27367Continued from last week. Millar hardly made it easy for the reader to sympathise with his protagonist. Arthur Montgomery is as unconvincing as a type as he’s unsympathetic as a character, and it’s only in… [more]]]>0“It’s A Rare Thing to be Ordinary These Days”: Shameless? Part 18http://sequart.org/magazine/26996/its-a-rare-thing-to-be-ordinary-these-days-shameless-part-18/
http://sequart.org/magazine/26996/its-a-rare-thing-to-be-ordinary-these-days-shameless-part-18/#commentsTue, 09 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=26996Continued from last week. In fact, it’s more than possible that Morrison actually had a considerable influence upon the format of Zenith: Tales of the Alternative Earths. Four years previously, he’d written his own series of… [more]]]>0From The Saviour to Judge Dredd and Zenith: Shameless? Part 17http://sequart.org/magazine/25777/from-the-saviour-to-judge-dredd-zenith-shameless-part-17/
http://sequart.org/magazine/25777/from-the-saviour-to-judge-dredd-zenith-shameless-part-17/#commentsTue, 02 Jul 2013 11:00:56 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=25777Continued from last week. For a brief moment in early 1990, Millar’s career appeared to be unambiguously prospering. As of May, Trident had, in addition to The Saviour, added Millar’s The Shadowmen to their schedule. Though… [more]]]>0“Celibacy Being Such a Drag”: Shameless? Part 16http://sequart.org/magazine/25046/celibacy-being-such-a-drag-shameless-part-16/
http://sequart.org/magazine/25046/celibacy-being-such-a-drag-shameless-part-16/#commentsTue, 25 Jun 2013 11:00:05 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=25046Continued from last week. It often appears that Millar is determined to deny any interpretation of his work that he doesn’t approve of. Yet as we’ve discussed, he repeatedly fails to produce comics whose political content… [more]]]>0“The Evil was the Act of Violence…”: Shameless? Part 15http://sequart.org/magazine/24326/the-evil-was-the-act-of-violence-shameless-part-15/
http://sequart.org/magazine/24326/the-evil-was-the-act-of-violence-shameless-part-15/#commentsTue, 18 Jun 2013 11:00:27 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=24326Continued from last week. Millar’s preference for deconstructing genre can at times make for routine and predictable comic books. For those who’d prefer more of close observation, ambition and innovation, and less of the bare bones… [more]]]>0“The Flat Earth Was Round”: Shameless? Part 14http://sequart.org/magazine/23706/the-flat-earth-was-round-shameless-part-14/
http://sequart.org/magazine/23706/the-flat-earth-was-round-shameless-part-14/#commentsTue, 11 Jun 2013 11:00:53 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=23706Continued from last week. Where religion’s concerned, there’s nothing but Catholicism to be seen in The Saviour. Not only is there no mention of any other form of Christianity, but there’s not a hint of… [more]]]>0Absolutely Puerile?: Shameless? Part 13http://sequart.org/magazine/23298/absolutely-puerile-shameless-part-13/
http://sequart.org/magazine/23298/absolutely-puerile-shameless-part-13/#commentsTue, 04 Jun 2013 11:00:44 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=23298Continued. But more than anything else, Millar’s depiction of a demon-dominated Catholic Church was a playful, and often deliberately silly, reflection of his personal experiences and tastes. Few comic book writers have ever focused upon… [more]]]>0On Marshal Law: The Deluxe Edition, by Pat Mills & Kevin O’Neillhttp://sequart.org/magazine/22874/on-marshal-law-the-deluxe-edition-by-pat-mills-kevin-oneill/
http://sequart.org/magazine/22874/on-marshal-law-the-deluxe-edition-by-pat-mills-kevin-oneill/#commentsTue, 28 May 2013 11:00:27 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=22874There’s no better advert for the costumed crimefighter comic than Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill’s Marshal Law. Acclaimed for its superhero-loathing vitriol, it’s also the proof of how malleable and vital the genre can be. In… [more]]]>0The Optimism of Colonel Daniel Dare (Part 2 of 2)http://sequart.org/magazine/21727/the-optimism-of-colonel-daniel-dare-part-2-of-2/
http://sequart.org/magazine/21727/the-optimism-of-colonel-daniel-dare-part-2-of-2/#commentsSat, 25 May 2013 17:00:32 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=21727Continued from earlier today. Hampson released more than just a little of that accumulated despair and tension as Eagle moved into its second calender-month of publication.With a modest smile and the characteristic arcing of a… [more]]]>1Anxiety & Optimism in Frank Hampson’s Dan Darehttp://sequart.org/magazine/21712/anxiety-optimism-in-frank-hampson-dan-dare/
http://sequart.org/magazine/21712/anxiety-optimism-in-frank-hampson-dan-dare/#commentsSat, 25 May 2013 11:00:20 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=21712There are very dark things going on here. From the perspective of 2012, it can be hard to grasp just how challengingly bleak the set-up of the first month of Frank Hampson’s Dan Dare was.… [more]]]>0On Alex Raymond & Don Moore’s “Flash Gordon: On the Planet of Mongo”http://sequart.org/magazine/21748/on-alex-raymond-don-moores-flash-gordon-on-the-planet-mongo/
http://sequart.org/magazine/21748/on-alex-raymond-don-moores-flash-gordon-on-the-planet-mongo/#commentsFri, 24 May 2013 17:00:24 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=21748It would be far easier to discuss those relatively few aspects of sci-fantastical fiction which haven’t been in any way influenced by Alex Raymond and Don Moore’s Flash Gordon. Even those genre creators who reject… [more]]]>1The Best of All of Us: “Doctor Who: Death to the Doctor,” by Jonathan Morris and Roger Langridgehttp://sequart.org/magazine/21739/doctor-who-death-to-the-doctor-by-jonathan-morris-and-roger-langridge/
http://sequart.org/magazine/21739/doctor-who-death-to-the-doctor-by-jonathan-morris-and-roger-langridge/#commentsThu, 23 May 2013 17:00:54 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=21739In which the blogger hopes that folks might stick around while he discusses a thoroughly fine and not unimportant story which many of you probably haven’t read, but which you really might want to, regardless… [more]]]>0“A Sharp Fox, the Ultimate Huckster”: Shameless? Part 12http://sequart.org/magazine/22567/a-sharp-fox-the-ultimate-huckster-shameless-part-12/
http://sequart.org/magazine/22567/a-sharp-fox-the-ultimate-huckster-shameless-part-12/#commentsTue, 21 May 2013 11:00:05 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=22567Continued from last week. “Half the country, and by that I mean living north of the M25, were victims of Thatcher’s modernisation program. My Dad lost his job when I was 15 and never worked… [more]]]>0“Now Everyone Hates Yuppies”: Shameless? Part 11http://sequart.org/magazine/22260/now-everyone-hates-yuppies-mark-millar-shameless-11/
http://sequart.org/magazine/22260/now-everyone-hates-yuppies-mark-millar-shameless-11/#commentsTue, 14 May 2013 11:00:18 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=22260Continued from last week. There’s a sense in which The Saviour helps establish the limits of deconstruction. For Millar stripped away so many of the genre’s traditions that it ceased to be much of a… [more]]]>0A Superhero for the Reader’s Sake: Shameless? Part 10http://sequart.org/magazine/21823/a-superhero-for-the-readers-sake-shameless-part-10/
http://sequart.org/magazine/21823/a-superhero-for-the-readers-sake-shameless-part-10/#commentsTue, 07 May 2013 11:00:10 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=21823Continued from last week. But even the most experienced and gifted of writers would struggle to make a success of The Saviour. It was far too ambitious and complex a project. In mixing so many genres,… [more]]]>0The History of the World?: Shameless? Part 9http://sequart.org/magazine/21576/the-history-of-the-world-shameless-part-9/
http://sequart.org/magazine/21576/the-history-of-the-world-shameless-part-9/#commentsTue, 30 Apr 2013 11:00:33 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=21576Continued from last week. But despite its barnstorming high concept, The Saviour was, as Skidmore conceded, “hard to explain” (*1). Some of this was caused by the need to keep key plot-reversals under wraps. But… [more]]]>0On Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2: What Tony Stark Once Suffered to Learn, Tony Stark Soon Forgothttp://sequart.org/magazine/20264/jon-favreau-iron-man-2-what-tony-stark-once-suffered-to-learn-tony-stark-soon-forgot/
http://sequart.org/magazine/20264/jon-favreau-iron-man-2-what-tony-stark-once-suffered-to-learn-tony-stark-soon-forgot/#commentsSun, 28 Apr 2013 10:00:32 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=20264Everyone’s at least something of a villain in Iron Man 2, except for some of our superhero’s friends and those thoroughly unaccountable Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and yet one of the very worst of the bad… [more]]]>3From Shazam to the Devil, from Brother Power the Geek to Jesus?: Shameless? Part 8http://sequart.org/magazine/21061/from-shazam-to-the-devil-from-brother-power-the-geek-to-jesus/
http://sequart.org/magazine/21061/from-shazam-to-the-devil-from-brother-power-the-geek-to-jesus/#commentsTue, 23 Apr 2013 11:00:38 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=21061Continued from last week. It’s impossible to say how much the young Millar wrote or how often he sent off his work to publishers in the years before he landed the Trident Comics contract. His… [more]]]>0What if Superman was Really the Antichrist!?!: Shameless? Part 7http://sequart.org/magazine/21053/what-if-superman-was-really-the-antichrist/
http://sequart.org/magazine/21053/what-if-superman-was-really-the-antichrist/#commentsTue, 16 Apr 2013 11:00:54 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=21053Continued from last week. The Saviour #1-6 (December 1989 to January 1991) Trident #5 (April 1990) The Saviour TPB Volume 1, Trident, 1990 (reprints all of the above except issue 6, with a Neil Gaiman… [more]]]>0“That Wicked Tongue Will Land You in Trouble Some Day”: Shameless? Part 6http://sequart.org/magazine/20944/that-wicked-tongue-will-land-you-in-trouble-some-day/
http://sequart.org/magazine/20944/that-wicked-tongue-will-land-you-in-trouble-some-day/#commentsTue, 09 Apr 2013 11:00:24 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=20944Continued from last week. Shameless? will inevitably reference the way in which Mark Millar has discussed his own work. As such, it’s worth noting that his distinctive public persona turns out not to have been… [more]]]>0The Adolescent High Conceptualist: Shameless? Part 5http://sequart.org/magazine/20224/the-adolescent-high-conceptualist/
http://sequart.org/magazine/20224/the-adolescent-high-conceptualist/#commentsTue, 02 Apr 2013 11:00:28 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=20224Continued from last week. It would take Millar almost a decade to develop a style that was as controlled and effective as his ideas were consistently intriguing. The first substantial evidence of this would appear… [more]]]>0Why are People so Frightened of Change?: Shameless? Part 4http://sequart.org/magazine/20200/why-are-people-so-frightened-of-change-mark-millar/
http://sequart.org/magazine/20200/why-are-people-so-frightened-of-change-mark-millar/#commentsTue, 26 Mar 2013 11:00:35 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=20200Continued from last week. “Why are they so obsessed with continuity? A story is a story – nothing more, and yet people want to know which Earth Watchmen takes place on.” (*1) The adolescent Millar… [more]]]>0On My So-Called Secret Identityhttp://sequart.org/magazine/20257/on-my-so-called-secret-identity/
http://sequart.org/magazine/20257/on-my-so-called-secret-identity/#commentsSun, 24 Mar 2013 10:00:36 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=20257My So-Called Secret Identity: not just principled, smart and promising, but repeatedly downright enjoyable. Every story contains any number of manifestos. The less a comic’s creators focus on a precise expression of their own beliefs,… [more]]]>0Mark Millar, Deconstructionist, Man and Boy: Shameless? Part 3http://sequart.org/magazine/20114/mark-millar-deconstructionist-man-and-boy/
http://sequart.org/magazine/20114/mark-millar-deconstructionist-man-and-boy/#commentsTue, 19 Mar 2013 11:00:47 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=20114Continued from last week. From the middle of the Eighties to the decade’s end, the teenage Millar’s preference appears to have been for the breed of super-hero comics associated with the label of deconstruction. The… [more]]]>0On the Professional Pre-History of Mark Millar: Shameless? Part 2http://sequart.org/magazine/19550/on-the-professional-pre-history-of-mark-millar/
http://sequart.org/magazine/19550/on-the-professional-pre-history-of-mark-millar/#commentsTue, 12 Mar 2013 11:00:15 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=19550Continued from last week. Only Mark Millar knows which twelve months of his life would most deserve the title of Annus horribilis. But from what he’s said in the press, the years of the late… [more]]]>2Shameless? The Super-Hero Comics of Mark Millar: Part 1, An Introductionhttp://sequart.org/magazine/19425/shameless-the-super-hero-comics-of-mark-millar-an-introduction/
http://sequart.org/magazine/19425/shameless-the-super-hero-comics-of-mark-millar-an-introduction/#commentsTue, 05 Mar 2013 12:00:35 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=19425It’s too good a story not to be treated with suspicion. Asked to recall his first comic by Lee Randall of The Scotsman in 2009, Mark Millar declared that he could remember the matter “exactly”.… [more]]]>0The Renaissance Man, The Master Of The World?: One Last Look at the Ditko / Lee Doctor Strange (Part 12)http://sequart.org/magazine/19132/renaissance-man-master-of-the-world-the-ditko-lee-doctor-strange/
http://sequart.org/magazine/19132/renaissance-man-master-of-the-world-the-ditko-lee-doctor-strange/#commentsTue, 26 Feb 2013 12:00:19 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=19132One recurrent criticism of Doctor Strange as a character is that he’s simply too powerful. A great many writers and fans alike have contended that comic book magic provides him with the tension-destroying ability to… [more]]]>0That Cowardly and Superstitious Batman, That Heartlessly Persecuted Joker: On Batman #17http://sequart.org/magazine/19317/that-cowardly-and-superstitious-batman-that-heartlessly-persecuted-joker-on-batman-17/
http://sequart.org/magazine/19317/that-cowardly-and-superstitious-batman-that-heartlessly-persecuted-joker-on-batman-17/#commentsSun, 24 Feb 2013 12:00:04 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=19317Well, why doesn’t the Batman simply kill the Joker? You’d think the answer would be obvious. Yet fans the blogosphere over appear quite flummoxed, if not dangerously apoplectic, about the matter. The Joker can’t be… [more]]]>1You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby: On What Made Doctor Strange Unique (The Penultimate Part)http://sequart.org/magazine/18861/you-just-haven%e2%80%99t-earned-it-yet-baby-on-what-made-doctor-strange-unique-the-penultimate-part/
http://sequart.org/magazine/18861/you-just-haven%e2%80%99t-earned-it-yet-baby-on-what-made-doctor-strange-unique-the-penultimate-part/#commentsTue, 19 Feb 2013 12:00:31 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=18861Why would the Ancient One wait until after Strange had confronted Dormammu before rewarding his triumphant student with “new powers”? Perhaps the physical and magical enfeeblement caused by the Dreaded One’s spell had left the… [more]]]>0Father, Son; Mentor, Student; Friends: On Doctor Strange & the Ancient One (Part 10)http://sequart.org/magazine/18721/father-son-mentor-student-friends-on-doctor-strange-the-ancient-one-part-10/
http://sequart.org/magazine/18721/father-son-mentor-student-friends-on-doctor-strange-the-ancient-one-part-10/#commentsTue, 12 Feb 2013 12:00:08 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=18721It was the unprecedented degree of conflict, of course, which marked out the earliest Marvel superhero comics from their characteristically more polite, repressed competitors. No-one had ever produced the likes of Fantastic Four #1 before,… [more]]]>0Who’s the Superhero, Who’s the Supporting Player? On Doctor Strange & the Ancient One (Part 9)http://sequart.org/magazine/18627/superhero-supporting-player-on-doctor-strange-the-ancient-one-part-9/
http://sequart.org/magazine/18627/superhero-supporting-player-on-doctor-strange-the-ancient-one-part-9/#commentsTue, 05 Feb 2013 12:00:47 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=18627In the years since Ditko and Lee stepped away from writing Doctor Strange, the Ancient One tended to be characterized in terms of, at best, his moral authority and, at worst, his physical decrepitude. Yet… [more]]]>0On the Ancient One, Earth’s Greatest Super-Hero (Part 8)http://sequart.org/magazine/18566/on-the-ancient-one-earth-greatest-super-hero-part-8/
http://sequart.org/magazine/18566/on-the-ancient-one-earth-greatest-super-hero-part-8/#commentsTue, 29 Jan 2013 12:00:45 +0000Colin Smithhttp://sequart.org/?p=18566Steve Ditko was often displeased with Stan Lee’s interpretation of his plots during the last few years in particular of their collaboration. Sadly, there seems to be no way of telling how the artist felt… [more]]]>1